Ontario tornado leaves 58,000 without power

Possible EF-2 tornado strikes Angus, Ontario

June 18, 2014

A tornado and severe thunderstorm in southern Ontario damaged about 100 homes and left 58,000 people without electricity.

The mayor of a central Ontario community says it’s a miracle no one was hurt when a tornado ripped through the area on Tuesday.

Essa Township Mayor Terry Dowdall says about 100 homes were damaged in Angus, which is located in the township.

Displaced residents were asked not to return to their homes Wednesday.

“We don’t want people going into places that are unsafe,” Ontario Provincial Police Const. Kelly Daniels told a morning press conference. “For everyone’s safety, we can’t have people walking through the scene.”

Daniels said 80-100 homes have been temporarily condemned until investigators can ensure the homes are safe. She said there’s no timeline for when people will be able to return to their homes.

The storm late Tuesday afternoon, a remnant of the weather system that brought tornadoes to Nebraska earlier in the week, was centered on the suburban Ontario town of Angus, northwest of Toronto. Vehicles were overturned and homes were left without walls.

The tornado blew out windows, tore up fences and sheared off the tops of some homes when it hit at about 5:30 p.m. but caused no serious injuries.

The tornado blew out windows, tore up fences and sheared off the tops of some homes when it hit at about 5:30 p.m. but caused no serious injuries.

Local MPP Jim Wilson said the tornado was “more concentrated” than the 1985 tornado that ripped through nearby Barrie and Orangeville. In that case, commercial businesses and farmland were damaged.

At its height, the storm caused power outages to 46,000 people, the utility company Hydro One reported, and Toronto Hydro, which supplies electricity to the city of Toronto, said 12,000 of its customers were without power.

Environment Canada says preliminary estimates suggest the tornado that struck Angus was an EF-2 with estimated wind speeds of near 180 km/h. The weather agency says the third tornado of the season tracked east from Angus to Barrie.

More rain is expected in the area Wednesday, including a risk of thunderstorms, before clearing in the evening.